Leopard s View Newsletter: December 2017 June 2018

Transcription

1 Leopard s View Newsletter: December 2017 June 2018 DECEMBER 2017 December was all about the weather: in the 4 th year of the drought, the month s poor figure of 34mm of rain gave us the lowest early summer (i.e. September-December) rainfall total (71mm) for which we have records available (i.e. since 1985 inclusive.) The bottom right of the 2017 weather graph on the left shows the situation clearly. At the beginning of 2018 the bush was in a sorry and dehydrated state. Thankfully, 2018 saw better rainfall with 7 th January no grass! 39 mm in January, followed by good late rains (February 51mm, March 62mm, April 54mm & May 26mm), i.e. 232mm in the 2 nd half of summer, including 80mm in April/May, which saved the day. This late rain resulted in a wonderful summer, just several months late: the grass grew and seeded, trees blossomed, flowers bloomed and the animals could stock up before winter set in. 18 th April summer growth after rains The wet season total was 303 mm, 67% of 30 th March green at last. annual average. The last four years have seen 56, 66, 99 and 67 % of annual average rainfall (just under 450mm.) Red-billed queleas As a result of the eruption of seeding grasses, we were visited by huge, whirling flocks of red-billed queleas, a seed-eating 29 th June winter dry-out under way bird, such as we have not seen for 4 years. By the end of June, the bush was drying out again.

2 With little food for the herbivores, no seeds for the seed-eating birds and no insects for their insectivorous cousins, December was not the best month we have recorded for game viewing, except for some of the carnivores. One interesting observation was of spotted bush-snakes in a mating competition on Christmas Day: some five males of these non-threatening-to-people snakes were trying to get possession of a single female, with much pushing, chasing, coiling and un-coiling. Crested francolin, one of our bush alarm clocks Giant plated lizard 29 th December leopard & cub Breeding group JANUARY 2018 You never know what you are going to see when in the bush: on the 16 th, we were amazed to see a young bushbuck female walking past the lodge: a couple of hours later, it walked back in the opposite direction. We have never seen bushbuck here in 10 years, although they occur in good numbers near the Olifants River. We assumed that the drought Leopard - 3 rd January was responsible in some way. Wonderful leopard pictures from the waterhole camera Saddle-billed stork Kudu cow with young calf Impala fawns at the house birdpool And so to trap on the 3 rd. We had several leopard records during the month, mainly of a female with a biggish cub or of the cub on its own. On the 7 th we became aware that a very small kudu calf that we had been seeing with its mother for a week or so was now just by our house and on its own, with no sign of the mother anywhere: there it remained all day. Luckily the female and calf were reunited because we saw them together the next day. A saddle-billed stork visited the waterhole on the 18 th : there are only pairs in the whole of Greater Kruger so it is a rare treat to see one here. A group of waterbuck females also visited the waterhole, on the 22 nd : they have been severely impacted Bushbuck - 16thJanuary Waterbuck 22 nd January by the drought and we have seen them only occasionally in recent times.

3 Zebra New Year s day Giraffe by our house European roller White-crowned lapwing by the Olifants River FEBRUARY Tawny eagle The camera trap at the waterhole often picks up unusual shots: mid-air impala Zebra foal prior to injury Strelizia in flower in our garden MARCH Around lunch-time on the 20 th, while chasing baboons away, we came across a blood trail that led to the carcass of a large waterbuck male about 60 metres from our house. The blood trail ran for over 50m, culminating in a massive pool close to the carcass. A nearby property reported camera trap video footage of two male waterbuck fighting during the previous night and blood on the ground. Examination of the carcass finally showed that the animal had been killed by a horn thrust to the neck with resultant huge blood loss. 20 th March the 1 st lion on the carcass 21st March over-eating? That evening the first lion arrived, a large male, joined by a second one some 15 minutes later. These two stayed at or near the carcass for the whole of the next day, except during the afternoon when they came to drink at the small pool by the Garth, our reserve Manager, checking out the waterbuck carcass, 20 th March Lion at our house birdpool, 22 nd March 22ndMarch 2 of the 3 males house. Interestingly we were in the middle of cooking a potjie (stew in a traditional cast iron pot over a wood fire) on our unfenced patio close to the pool: one of the lions sat and watched us from 50m away until we went inside, leaving the pot bubbling away, and only then did he come closer and drink, followed soon by the other one. A third male joined the next morning, by which time the carcass had been torn into two sections about 30 m apart. The first two males drank again in front of our house and all three only left when darkness came. Two days later we brought the horns back to near the house, only to have two hyenas carry them off into the bush two nights later (we then chained them to a tree!) His Majesty, 22 nd March

4 Ezulwini by our house, 17 th March Brown snake-eagle 26 th March We had several visits from Ezulwini, our bigtusked elephant bull; indeed, there was a great deal of elephant activity in the month. A zebra foal that we had observed quite often near the lodge was seen on the 30 th with a bad wound to its back right leg, which exposed inches of bone. several Black-backed jackal.. near the waterbuck carcass One of numerous flower species that appeared after late rains Veld Violet APRIL We managed to photograph the injury to the zebra foal on the 2 nd (although it looked far worse with the naked eye.) We have seen zebras before with serious injuries that have healed remarkably and this was no exception: by the 24 th the wound was closing up and still looking clean. (We have seen this foal since, 2 nd April zebra foal injury (lion or kick from another zebra?) 2 4th April zebra foal injury significantly healed with the injury completely closed up and the foal little the worse for wear except for a slight stiffness in the movement of the leg.) We had some good bird sightings during the month as well, including a lappetfaced vulture (a relatively rare vulture that we had not recorded here before), plus red-billed firefinches in the lodge garden and wiretailed swallows Lappet-faced vulture 3 rd April catching insects on the wall of our house. Leopard tortoise - 19 h April Red-billed firefinch - 4 th April Wire-tailed swallow 4 th April Save water bath with a friend

5 MAY The 12 th May saw our daughter, Julie, getting married to Garth, the manager of Olifants West Reserve. The ceremony and reception were at the lodge: 65 guests celebrated the event, with massive landscaping allowing 7 tables to be out in the bush for dinner; plus the Hoedspruit African dance group on the concrete deck; potjies cooking by the carports; pimms, scones and cakes all served from the braai area. Everyone said we should specialise in hosting weddings! Readers who have stayed at the Lodge will recognise Iris & Lucia in the photos below; they could not resist joining in with some of the dance show, to the delight of all the guests. May also saw some excellent animal sightings and camera trap records. Three wild dogs on an impala kill just 100m from the lodge decks on the 3 rd ; lionesses with small cubs drinking at the waterhole on the 3 rd May wild dogs 30th May leopard at the waterhole Khuza s calf, Thumela 9 th and the 21 st ; several black rhino visits to the area; a hippo at the waterhole for the first time in some years (since the drought began); leopard. On the 17 th, as we were about to go to bed, we heard lions-eating noises close

6 21 st May - Takazile pride lioness with small cubs 26 th May passing hippo at the waterhole to our house: the three male lions from the waterbuck carcass in March were feeding on an impala kill just 80 m away a great experience for our more intrepid guests. On the 31 st we had one of those interesting and unusual encounters: we could hear impala alarm calls from our house and went to investigate we found the impala but could see no sign of any predator. After much searching we realised that it was a mating 17 th May, pm lion on impala kill close to our house 29 th May elephant breeding group at the waterhole pair of African wild cats that had the impalas staring intently at them and alarm calling presumably they recognised them as cats (albeit they could do nothing to an adult impala or even to this season s fawns.) I think we ve been caught. 18 th June some of the 40+ elephants by the lodge JUNE On the18 th we drove out with our guests to look at a few elephants we could see on the ridge beyond the waterhole. When we reached them we realised they were heading for the water and drove down there to wait for them. To our astonishment, at least 40 elephants then came to drink, arriving in group after group. They then went up the hill, drifting past the lodge and house over the next 90 minutes, 18 th June some of 40+ elephants at the waterhole before moving off in separate family groups. We have never seen so many elephants together at the lodge in our 10 years here. For much of June we had a barn owl roosting on the stoep rafters at our house: it was there virtually every evening, sometimes roosting down in the covered deck area of the lodge. We tried to get photographs but it was much too skittish and always eluded us a rare treat to see, however. We did manage to get some good photos of a capped wheatear that was near our house on the 20 th : an uncommon bird in the area and the first time we have seen it here. Capped wheatear 20 th June

7 A less constructive elephant encounter was on the 28 th when Ezulwini and 3 smaller bulls passed by the house and then gathered with 4 others close to the lodge decks. One of these bulls then ripped up the pipe from the borehole to the tanks about halfway down the hill. Half a day of mending work followed ending with lots of rocks being piled on top of the repair area. Just as well because the next morning 3 of the same elephants were back at the site but were defeated by the rocks (large ones that couldn t be rolled away owing to strategically placed smaller & medium ones around them.) Overall, June saw a huge amount of elephant activity in the area 29 th June male lion at the waterhole 19 th June leopard at lodge birdpool 28 th June known naughty elephant (Ushaped tear in left ear) 18 th June waterbuck male. 29 th June young bull, one of the waterpipe three 28 th June duiker at our house birdpool probably the one responsible for the death in March, now nicknamed The Assassin SUMMARY Over the course of the seven months which are covered by this newsletter, we have seen or recorded lion, leopard, hyena, wild cat, wild dog, black-backed jackal, honey badger, civet, slender mongoose, banded mongoose, dwarf mongoose, elephant, black rhino, hippo, zebra, giraffe, wildebeest, kudu, waterbuck, impala, bushbuck, duiker, steenbok, baboon, vervet monkey, lesser bushbaby, warthog, porcupine, scrub hare, tree squirrel: i.e. 30 species of larger mammal. We have recorded several new bird species for the lodge list, which now stands at 171 species seen, plus 6 heard but not actually seen, and 9 seen elsewhere in the Reserve, mainly along the Olifants River. There has been a significant increase in the number of elephant breeding herds (i.e. females and youngsters) in addition to the bulls that have constituted the bulk of our elephant population previously. We have had plenty of leopard activity around the lodge and also regular (and spectacular) lion and hyena sightings. With a wedding thrown into the mix, it has been a great first half of 2018 at Leopard s View. Our best wishes to all our readers. Neil & Ann